'Music was too loud for the captain to hear the radio': rangers on blaring boat

A brightly lit charter boat was caught on camera emitting blaring music in a protected bay on Saturday night in a flagrant breach of conservation regulations, maritime rangers are claiming.

Footage by the Malta Sea Ranger Unit (MSRU) shared on social media shows a brightly lit vessel playing loud music with passengers onboard while moored in a protected bay identified by the rangers as "close to St Paul’s Islands".

Writing on Facebook, the rangers said that several other skippers in the area had tried to reach the vessel by radio, but that their calls had been drowned out by the noise.

The rangers eventually contacted the armed forces after Transport Malta was unable to help due to having limited resources at night, and the vessel left the area, the rangers said.

“This is one of many cases we have where the captains of commercial vessels aren't following the laws”, the unit wrote, while stressing that “illegal” loud music represented a maritime safety concern.

Times of Malta is informed that the vessel was the La Zingara, a private charter catamaran. 

When contacted, owner Jonathan Camilleri said he was not on board and "cannot be sure what happened". He declined to comment further. 

The Facebook page of the company advertises sunset charters, with one video showing passengers dancing under blue lighting similar to that seen in the video. 

Addressing Parliamentary Secretary for Animal Welfare Alicia Bugeja Said and Gozo Minister Clint Camilleri, the MSRU said the lack of marine enforcement at night had “been brought to your attention a lot, for years. Yet no action is taken to sort it out”.

Speed limits, light and noise emissions are tightly controlled within certain areas around St Paul’s Islands under Environment and Resources Authority regulations to protect nesting Yelkouan Shearwater birds.

The rules were established in 2023 following the EU-funded LIFE Arċipelagu Garnija project, which aimed to secure the Maltese islands for the species, which is only found in the southern and eastern Mediterranean. 

The rangers attached a link to a Transport Malta notice warning mariners that activities onboard commercial vessels should not impair radio communications at any time, and that noise levels – including “shouting” and “jeering” - should be controlled.

The MSRU was founded in June last year as an offshoot of the Malta Ranger Unit in response to an increasing number of reports on maritime illegalities.

Highlighting the limited maritime enforcement at the time, the rangers told Times of Malta then that the “biggest issues are boats illegally passing through conservation areas and wreck sites ... and noise pollution coming from boats. There is currently some enforcement, but it’s limited”.

The ranger unit, set up as an NGO in 2023, responds to around 3,000 reports of environmental illegalities each year, with around three-quarters of reports confirmed as breaches of the law.

The rangers have said that the MSRU's long-term aim is to employ rangers at sea.